OK, Wait—Is AliExpress Legit?

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Everyone loves a good deal. Snagging something for half its original price is almost as good as getting the package in the mail, but have you ever considered the potential consequences of buying the season’s hottest item at a fraction of the cost?

After all, the last thing you want to wake up to in the morning is an empty bank account and a long list of unrecognizable charges from your most recent late-night online purchase. AliExpress is a site where finding stellar deals is possible if you exercise caution and good judgment when shopping.

For years, shoppers have questioned whether this popular Chinese marketplace is legitimate, or a hub for scammers. Like many online shopping websites, there are stories of fraud and scandal. Knowing what to look for in a sketchy product ad and which payment methods to use to protect your money are the two key things about shopping on AliExpress. These basic internet shopping safety tips can save you time and money. With that said, let’s get to the real question: Is AliExpress legit?

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What Is AliExpress?

AliExpress has been around since 2010. Created by Jack Ma, a Chinese business mogul and philanthropist, this marketplace is one of the largest online bazaars for shoppers to peruse everything from furniture to fashion.

With its unique direct-to-consumer (D2C) model, manufacturers and sellers can offer their products directly to customers and avoid the middleman.

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Is AliExpress a Scam?

Practicing caution is always a smart idea, no matter where you’re shopping or whether you’re in person or online. However, as we mentioned, scammers can hide on every online platform. While AliExpress as a whole is not necessarily a scam, you'll want to pay attention to the reviews for specific sellers and their products.

Unfortunately, the D2C model means you deal with individual sellers instead of one company. Each seller uploads whatever products they want to offer and is responsible for organizing shipping, so you should always double-check the store’s policies on returning, shipping times and item quality guarantee.

AliExpress’s buyer protection program helps to alleviate issues, yet it can take time to settle a claim.

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Why Is AliExpress So Cheap?

The platform’s hallmark is low-cost products, which allow you to get decent quality items without breaking the bank. Although some sellers might claim to sell branded items, be wary of this because counterfeit products are common online (and can be seized by customs if the product comes from an international seller who’s unlicensed to sell the merchandise).

Another reason why AliExpress is so cheap is because of the diverse shipping options. Compared to other marketplaces known for their fast shipping times, you could wait anywhere from seven days to four or five weeks or more for your purchases. Shipping by air or sea also factors into the cost, with air shipping costing significantly more than sea shipping but reducing your wait time. And, unlike its counterpart and sister marketplace, Alibaba, most sellers don’t require a minimum order quantity (MOQ), usually meant for wholesalers.

Here are some other things that make AliExpress so cheap but can also indicate a scam:

• Low-quality photography

• Extremely low prices on branded items like designer purses and clothing or tech products

• Keyword stuffing in the product title and description

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What Shoppers Say About AliExpress

In the world of online shopping, customer experiences play a huge role in influencing your decision about whether to buy something from a website or not. When it comes to AliExpress, the massive number of shoppers that use the marketplace means an equally large pool of reviews.

Prioritize reading reviews on products posted within the past six months to one year, with pictures included and with decent descriptions (more than four to five words about the product). And prioritize reading reviews on the sellers as well.

So, what are shoppers saying about AliExpress?

In general, the reviews seem fairly split about AliExpress. While some are noticing improvements in shipping times, other factors like cost increases and/or quality decreases put a damper on the experience.

Reddit user @redilyntoriami posted, “I've actually noticed an improvement. Items are arriving much faster than they have in the past, usually in 3 weeks. Item quality has been good. Prices are still okay although maybe not as cheap as they used to be but everything costs more nowadays.”

Another buyer left a review on TrustPilot, describing one of their orders as: "Broken and electronics are cheap replicas that don't work. Save your money and avoid them."

One frustration many customers and business owners share is how frequently product photos are stolen. Some images, like the ones posted by TikTok user Ezra Butler, are of people wearing the items—without first obtaining consent.

Another quick search on TikTok will reveal hundreds of AliExpress “hauls,” comparisons of items purchased on the platform to other similar products, or reviews of specific sellers.

The general consensus is that while there are definitely good things about the marketplace, there’s a good chance you’ll encounter some hiccups between purchasing and receiving your product—or getting a product that matches the listing (depending on the seller).

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Is AliExpress Legit?

AliExpress is legit from the standpoint of being a place to shop. However, it is important to always look for customer reviews about both the product and the seller, as well as “in real life” (IRL) pictures of items to know you’re getting what you pay for.

That being said, while AliExpress is a shopping marketplace, it is not accredited by the Better Business Bureau (BBB), and has 1.06 out of 5 stars on the BBB site with 204 reviews.

And on TrustPilot, AliExpress has nearly 140,000 reviews with an average rating of "Poor." TrustPilot does list AliExpress as a "Verified Company," however.

Besides checking reviews of both the seller and the product before purchasing, make sure to also use a secure payment platform and keep your eye out for potential scamming tactics in product listings.

Good luck, and happy shopping!

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